With a texture like string cheese and a flavor similar to Monterey Jack, Oaxaca cheese is made by stretching and kneading pasteurized cow’s milk curd into long ropes which are wound into a ball. Well-suited to melted cheese applications, Oaxaca cheese can play a starring role in quesadillas and queso fundido dishes, or it can top tacos and burgers.

Oaxaca Cheese is in the Inception stage – it skews toward independent operators and casual dining.

Agave & Rye – Covington, Ky.

• Birria Irish Nachos – slow roasted birria (beef), sweet and spicy bacon, queso, Oaxaca cheese, crispy French fries, cowboy candy (sweet-and-spicy pickled peppers) and tobacco onions.